Hard to reach safety harnesses, poor safety training and open chopper doors created a deadly configuration for even the most experienced flyers.

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"When you have an open door, and those harnesses, you have an inescapable scenario," helicopter crash lawyer Gary C. Robb said. "You'd have to be Houdini to escape. There's no real prospect of safely evacuating an aircraft in that situation."

FlyNYOn, the company that chartered the flight, touts their air tours a safe and thrilling ride with a bird's-eye view of downtown Manhattan's biggest tourist attractions.

"We take the thrill of shooting images from an open door helicopter...without compromising safety," according to the company's website. Flying without doors is legal.

Five people were killed in the crash. A video posted to Trevor Cadigan’s Instagram captured the takeoff. (tncadigan via Instagram)

Now National Transportation Safety Board investigators are probing whether the chopper's safety floats deployed correctly and the harnesses functioned properly.

"There are some issues with the floats," Robb said. "The river didn't look to rough. It shouldn't have been a problem keeping the helicopter upright."

Writer/Photographer Eric Adams, who took the same tour on Sunday, said that there wasn't proper evacuation training provided by the tour company.

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He said they showed safety film that explained the safety measures.

"They showed us the harness and how it worked and they showed us the knife and how you'd have to cut yourself free," Adams said. The knife consisted of a plastic hook covered on three sides by plastic and an opening to slide the belt strap into to cut it.

"They didn't really show me where the knife was," he said.

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He said that the harness fit through the legs and over the shoulders. It had a caribiner attached to a loop in the center of the passengers back. That caribiner was then tethered to the helicopter.

Crime scene investigators stand near the submerged helicopter after the Sunday crash. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

"You'd have to reach behind you open the caribiner to get yourself free," Adams said. "They don't really walk you through the release during the safety briefing."

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the rescue was hampered because the passengers were tightly harnessed. "People had to be cut out," he said.

Pilot Richard Vance, 33, was able to deploy a raft and get himself to safety after the 7 p.m. crash Sunday.